All Change ...

Its time to move to a new diary ...

New Post will be found at  http://gdadstravel2013.blogspot.com.au/

But, the "OLD" diary (this one) remains

Or Are You Kidding ...

Strolling though the bush in cool weather is a pleasure. Bird, beasts and treeeeeeeeees ... always loads of trees. Today was no exception ...

As a contrast there were patches of common Spotted Hyacinth Orchids. A change from the usual flora ... delicate and colourful. So un-Horsetralian mate ...

Flower Power ... Again

The cactus has sprouted another splendid bloom ..

Note the dead, wizened flower on the right

Blooming Shame ...

Beautiful for just a few days ... it seems to have a not so subtle message. The cactus flowers have had their day ... maybe we'll have to be around in ten years time for the plant to bloom again.

I'm Cactused!

The last two days have been spent marveling at the antics of a cactus. I say "antics" knowing you'll no doubt want to point out that the sedentary cactus is somewhat limited in its ability to act in anything remotely antic-like. No so. The rate at which this Echinocereus spachiana grew the flowers was almost unbelievable. Consider the plant has stood sentinel in its pot for over ten years ... no doubt contemplating this recent flowing ... belies the last few days activity. Here are some photos to amaze and delight ...

Each flower took about 5 hours to fully open ...

Cut-N-Paste...Cut-N-Paste ...

Eyeballs are now 16:9. Much editing has been done but a lot remains. Should I upgrade the CPU and MOBO and add some more RAM? Some of the videos take over an hour to render and the temperature of the brain reaches a near dangerous level ... no, I've not over-clocked too much ...

Using my "old" computer takes 12 hours ... yes, 12 hours ... to process single a DVD! Now if I relegate my "new" computer to "old"  maybe a i7 will do things a bit faster ...

Here are some more pics ...

Lincoln Cathedral

Spooky Elizabethan Dudette 

Keeping Things In Focus

After many hours sat at the computer editing the videos, I have to report a high degree of dissatisfaction. I knew that the "old" Sony camera was having the of off-day ... wibble-wobbling the picture now and again. sadly, even my poor efforts at manually trying to correct the problem don't seem to have had much effect. The result is a loss of a lot of "takes". This mean ... we'll just have to go to the places again and re-film. Oh dear! What a poor excuse for another trip next year ...

Some of the film is spectacular. This is part of the front of Amiens cathedral:

Editing And Editing ...

Onward and endless editing seems to be the everyday activity briefly interspersed with visits to the Cafe Favorite for the life giving beverage and cake.

Here is a pic of the local one-and-only bridge ...

Its The Same, Same Old Song ...

Editing hours of video gives me eye-ache. The sad thing is that my Handicam seems to have intermittent bouts of rolling-shutter-flutter. Which means some of the film is Anglo-Saxoning useless. There is plenty to digitally cut-and-paste so there will be loss to gawk at later.

The Quietness Is Defening

Here we are, back in the cage. The weeds have grown in profusion. The overall feeling is quiet, backwoods tranquility. No traffic noise. No street lighting at night. The sound of Zimmer frames scraping their way from public loo to cafe. Is good to have a rest and charge the batteries before the next trip ...